Natural Hazards

Every year in the United States, natural hazard events threaten lives and livelihoods, resulting in deaths and billions of dollars in damage. The USGS works with many partners to monitor, assess, and conduct targeted research on a wide range of natural hazards so that policymakers and the public have the understanding they need to enhance preparedness, response and resilience.

In 2010, the USGS realigned its organizational structure around the missions identified in the USGS Science Strategy. The Natural Hazards Mission Area includes six science programs: Coastal & Marine Geology, Earthquake Hazards, Geomagnetism, Global Seismographic Network, Landslide Hazards, and Volcano Hazards. Through these programs, the USGS provides alerts and warnings of geologic hazards and supports the warning responsibilities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for geomagnetic storms and tsunamis. The Coastal and Marine Geology Program supports all the missions of the USGS, characterizing and assessing coastal and marine processes, conditions, change and vulnerability.

The Natural Hazards Mission Area is responsible for coordinating USGS response following disasters and overseeing the bureau's emergency management activities. The mission area coordinates long-term planning across the full USGS hazards science portfolio, including activities funded through many other programs across the bureau, including floods, hurricanes and severe storms, and wildfires.

The future direction of the USGS hazards mission is guided by the recently released USGS Natural Hazards Science Strategy, which was developed by a team of USGS scientists with considerable input from partners and the public. This document is part of a broader USGS science strategy planning process across all our missions.

Natural Hazards Mission Area Programs & Activities

CMGP conducts research on the changes to the coastal and marine environment that impact lands, lives and livelihoods, and vulnerable ecosystems; providing science to inform decisions that ensure safe and resilient coastal communities and sustainable use and protection of marine resources. Supporting the Natural Hazards mission, CMGP conducts research on marine geohazards including earthquakes, tsunami, and submarine landslides and on coastal change hazards from erosion, hurricanes and other extreme storms, and sea-level rise.

The Earthquake Hazards Program is part of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), a four-agency partnership led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Earthquakes pose significant risk to 75 million Americans in 39 States. The USGS provides research and information products for earthquake loss reduction, including hazard and risk assessments, comprehensive real-time earthquake monitoring, and public outreach.

The mission of the Geomagnetism Program is to monitor the Earth's magnetic field. Using ground-based observatories, the Program provides continuous records of magnetic field variations covering long timescales; disseminates magnetic data to various governmental, academic, and private institutions; and conducts research into the nature of geomagnetic variations for purposes of scientific understanding and hazard mitigation.

The Global Seismographic Network (GSN) is a permanent digital network of state-of-the-art seismological and geophysical sensors connected by a telecommunications network. The GSN provides near-uniform, worldwide monitoring of the Earth, with over 150 modern seismic stations distributed globally. The GSN was formed in partnership among the USGS, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS).

The mission of the Landslide Hazards Program is to provide information that leads to the reduction of losses from landslides and increase in public safety through improved understanding of landslide hazards and strategies for hazard mitigation. The USGS conducts landslide hazard assessments, pursues landslide investigations and forecasts, provides technical assistance to respond to landslide emergencies, and engages in outreach activities.

The Volcano Hazards Program advances the scientific understanding of volcanic processes in order to lessen the harmful impacts of volcanic activity. The USGS monitors active and potentially active volcanoes, assesses their hazards, responds to volcanic crises, and conducts research on how volcanoes work. The USGS also issues warnings of potential volcanic hazards to responsible emergency-management authorities and to the populace affected.

The SAFRR project focuses on building partnerships to improve the use of natural hazards information from the USGS, to identify needs and gaps, and to develop new products that increase the use of USGS science by emergency managers and community decisionmakers in order to promote greater resilience to natural hazards. SAFRR evolved from the Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project in Southern California, which has developed interdisciplinary, science-based products that deliver information that starts with the hazard and carries through to impacts on the community.

The USGS Natural Hazards Mission Area has been given responsibility for overseeing the bureau's emergency management activities. This function includes the USGS Hazard Response Executive Committee, which provides executive direction, oversight, and support to USGS managers in responding to major hazard events. During incidents of national significance, the USGS provides support to certain National Response Framework emergency support functions.

Additional USGS Hazards Science Activities

The Astrogeology Science Center serves the nation, the international science community, and the general public in the pursuit of new knowledge about our Solar System. The program has participated in analyzing data from numerous missions to planetary bodies, assisting in finding potential landing sites for exploration vehicles, mapping our neighboring planets, moons, and asteroids, and conducting research to better understand the geologic processes operating on these bodies.

The USGS is the Nation's primary provider of information on water. The bulk of the USGS activities related to floods and droughts are carried out through programs within the Water Mission Area. Web portals make it possible to view current water conditions and where floods and droughts are occurring.